Overview of Presentation
   1. Introduction – Agriculture and 
      Climate Change
   2. No International Unity about 
      Climate Change
   3. International Response to 
      Climate Change
   4. The 2015 Paris Climate 
      Conference (COP21)
   5. Demand by farmers Constituency 
      for Inclusion of ‘Agriculture’ in 
      the Paris Agreement
   6. Outcomes of COP21
   7. The Paris Agreement 
      implications for Smallholders
   8. Conclusion
        2
       1. Introduction – Agriculture and Climate 
             Change
       • Agriculture, climate change, food security and poverty reduction are 
        inextricably linked. 
       • As the world population grows to a projected 9 billion by 2050, 
        agricultural production must also increase by an estimated 70 percent 
        according to FAO. 
       • Climate volatility, more frequent extreme weather events and 
        temperature changes increasingly threaten the viability of agriculture 
        and forestry sectors and rural infrastructure throughout the world. 
       • Globally, agriculture directly accounts for 13.5 % of greenhouse gas 
        emissions and indirectly for another 17% due to deforestation and 
        land-use change.
       • The sector holds a large mitigation potential, mainly through reduced 
        deforestation, soil management and increased productivity. 
       • Agriculture is therefore part of the problem and part of the 
        solution to Climate Change.
                                                                                    3
        2. No International Unity about Climate Change
      • There is no international unity about Climate Change and its effects on 
       human lives. 
      • Many scientists and politicians around the world think the figures about 
       GHG emissions, global warming and threat to future existence are not 
       realistic and have been exaggerated. 
      • A GREENPEACE Report – ‘‘Dealing in Doubt’’ (2013) provides information 
       of how the fossil fuel industry has waged a campaign of climate denial for 
       more than two decades. 
      • Must distinguish clearly between those scientists who have challenged the 
       theories of global warming in good faith and the efforts of the denier 
       campaign to undermine the credibility of the scientific establishment. 
      • The denier campaign has consistently sought to present its publications and 
       claims in the style of genuine science, tactics modelled after ‘Big Tobacco.’
      • This climate denial effort is aimed at delaying action. The objective is 
       to create uncertainty and doubt, especially in the media and minds of non-
       expert policymakers.
                                                                                    4
    • In Malawi Climate Change is real and impacts on the lives of more 
      than 90% of the population which depends on agriculture, 
      forestry and fishing for their livelihoods.
    • Malawi is particularly vulnerable to Climate Change and 
      variability because we have rain-fed agriculture which drives the 
      economy. 
    • Irrigation is practiced on less than 10% of the land. 
    • Observed changes in climate include a shift in the rainfall season, 
      with later onset and early cessation, as well as increases in the 
      length of the dry season and reductions in the length of the 
      growing season. 
    • Expected increases in the frequency and severity of extreme 
      events such as floods and storms will increase the hazards faced 
      by not only farmers, foresters and fishermen but the general 
      population. 
    • In 2015/2016 season the country faced intensive flooding followed 
                                                                           5
      by drought which affected more than 1.1 million people, displaced 
      336,000 and killed 104 people. 
    • This led to declaration of disaster for 15 Districts as up to 
      2.8million people are food insecure.
    • ITV News Video clip.
        3.     International Response to Climate Change
        • The international political response to Climate Change began at the Rio 
          Earth Summit in 1992, where the ‘Rio Convention’ included the 
          adoption of the UN Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 
        • This convention set out a framework for action aimed at stabilising 
          atmospheric concentrations of GHGs to avoid “dangerous anthropogenic 
          interference with the climate system.” The UNFCCC which entered into 
          force on 21 March 1994, now has a near-universal membership of 195 
          parties. 
        • The main objective of the annual Conference of Parties (COP) is to 
          review the Convention’s implementation. The first COP took place in 
          Berlin in 1995 and significant meetings since then have included; 
            o
              COP3 where the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, 
            o
              COP11 where the Montreal Action Plan was produced, 
            o
             COP15 in Copenhagen where an agreement to succeed Kyoto 
            Protocol not   realised, 
            o
              COP17 in Durban where the Green Climate Fund was created.
                                                                                        6